Michele Bianchi

Michele Bianchi (22 July 1883-3 February 1930) was the leader of the leftist wing of the National Fascist Party, believing in syndicalism.

Biography
Michele Bianchi was born on 22 July 1883 in Belmonte Calabro, Calabria, Italy and became a journalist after graduating from the University of Rome. Early on, he joined the Italian Socialist Party and edited the Avanti! newspaper of the party; however, he was arrested and forced to settle in Genoa due to his anti-militarism. In 1906 he expressed his pacifism to the Socialist Party, and he gained opposition from the more conservative elements of the party; he backed many proletarian revolts in 1911 and was arrested several times for his activism. At the start of World War I, he joined Benito Mussolini in supporting Italy's entry into the war, and he served in the infantry and artillery. After the war, he became the National Fascist Party's secretary in 1921, and he authorized numerous raids by the Blackshirts. In 1922, he was among the Quattuorviratewho led the March on Rome that deposed Luigi Facta's government and gained power for the fascists, and he held government posts under Mussolini. He died in Rome in 1930 at the age of 47 of natural causes.